


caught up in your love affair

by disgruntledkittenface



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Anne is Prince Charles if he were king, Boys In Love, Engagement, Established Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Established Relationship, Famous Harry, Fluff, Gemma and Michal are Will and Kate basically, Harry is Prince Harry, Louis is Meghan Markle, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Modern Royalty, No Smut, Non-Famous Louis, Prince Harry Styles, Romance, Royalty, but not like a regular Prince Charles, famous/non-famous, like a cool Prince Charles, loosely set in 2017 but Jay is alive in this story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 01:26:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13260702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disgruntledkittenface/pseuds/disgruntledkittenface
Summary: “And the corgis took to you straightaway,” Harry remarks.“That’s true,” Louis chuckles.“I’ve spent the last 29 years being barked at,” Harry deadpans, jerking his hand toward Louis, “this one walks in, absolutely nothing.”Louis outright giggles at that, saying, “They were just lying on my feet during tea.”“Wagging tails,” Harry says, shaking his head.“It’s because they don’t understand flirting,” Louis tells him, “you can’t charm them the way you do everyone else.”Royal AU. Prince Harry announces his engagement to Louis Tomlinson in an interview with longtime friend and BBC host Nick Grimshaw. Inspired by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.





	caught up in your love affair

**Author's Note:**

> My mind went straight to larry royal AU when I saw Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s interview in November and has stayed there ever since basically. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had researching and writing!! Many thanks and all the love to Kim for the handholding and thoughtful feedback and to Sage for the wild enthusiasm and letting me steal her joke to put in. I couldn’t have done this without you <3

“Thank you! Thanks, everyone,” Harry calls out, raising one hand to wave and using the other to pull Louis even closer to his side as the last camera flashes go off. He looks down at his fiance, the heels on his boots adding an inch or so to his already slight height advantage, and Louis grins back at him. His eyes crinkle at the corners the way Harry loves, almost completely shut. The world fades away as Harry still manages to get lost in their bright blue and, for a moment, it’s just the two of them.

A sudden firm-but-gentle pinch to his bum, hopefully out of the crowd’s view, jolts him out of it and, honestly, despite Louis’ nerves, Harry should have been expecting something like that. Louis’ spontaneity and fondness for mischief are high on the list of things Harry loves about him. He barks a truly ridiculous, loud laugh to Louis’ evident delight and his cheeks heat up, a bit embarrassed but also pleased. He nods toward the palace, indicating they should start their walk back through the garden, and Louis squeezes his hip, or rather the stubborn love handle just above his hip, in acknowledgement.

One more wave from each of them and then they start strolling, taking their time, in no rush to greet the other crowd that awaits them inside. The sound of a horde of cameras clicking follows them, but Harry barely registers it. If someone had told him years ago that he’d make it to this day, introducing his fiance, a man he loves and wants to build a life with, to the nation from the Sunken Garden, one of his favorite places to mope about the very impossibility of such a thing in his youth, he’d never have believed it. Never would have thought having this could happen for him.

As they approach the main building, Harry drops his arm from where it’s wrapped around Louis’ shoulder, intending to take hold of the door from the security guard and hold it open, but just then Louis’ hands fall to Harry’s hips and he starts gently guiding him through the door and, well. Even after a year and a half together, Harry can’t help the thrill that goes through him, the dimpled smile that takes hold of his face, at Louis taking care of him. Taking such care with him. Harry’s meant to be the chivalrous one; he’d been raised with all manner of lessons regarding etiquette and putting the people around him at ease, but he never feels that pressure with Louis. There’s never any pretense, he can relax and be himself, just _be,_ with Louis.

As they walk into the nearest sitting room that’s been deemed a sort of green room (or perhaps command center, more appropriately) for the day, Harry absentmindedly runs a hand through his already windswept hair. A flash of lavender hair rushes toward him: Lou, his favorite of the palace’s hair and makeup artists, hairbrush in hand, already tutting. Harry stops in his tracks when she reaches him, and just lets her have her way with him, the only woman who’s had that particular privilege. It’s easier than putting up a fight, he knows from experience, and she’s too impatient to sit him down first so he just ducks a bit.

Louis cackles a bit at him, his quiff perfectly intact, before weaving his way through the various representatives from Royal Communications and the BBC, all their associated assistants and secretaries, and even a few friends milling around. He reaches the tea cart and waves off the servant manning it to prepare two cuppas himself, one white and one with two sugar cubes.

Harry feels his dimples slowly return as Louis winds his way back and hands him his tea. He closes his eyes for a moment when he hears Lou shaking a can of hairspray, and when he opens them, he thinks he’s the only one to spot the slight tremor in Louis’ hand as he lowers the mug of tea he’s been sipping.

“Alright, love?” he asks quietly, aware of the mob of people surrounding them.

“Was bricking it, if I’m honest,” Louis admits. “Don’t know how you do that all the time, with all the people and lights flashing in your eyes.”

Harry shoos Lou away, knowing she’ll forgive him in a minute, and takes Louis’ mug from him. After setting their teas on the nearest side table, he wraps Louis in his arms and kisses his temple.

“You did so well though, love,” he whispers in Louis’ ear. “Don’t think anyone could tell.”

Louis scoffs, but nuzzles into Harry’s neck, silently encouraging him to continue. Harry starts to run a hand soothingly up and down Louis’ back, frowning as Louis lets out a raggedy breath.

“I mean it,” he protests. “Looked like you’re the one who’s been photographed by scrums of paparazzi all your life out there, not me. Didn’t you see me trip over my own feet halfway there?”

Louis laughs at that, his shoulders shaking. Bolstered, Harry continues, “You were so confident. Sexy. Regal.”

“You do talk a lot of shit,” Louis declares with a smirk, pulling back and shaking his head.

Harry pouts, hoping to draw another laugh from Louis, and breaks into a smile when he’s successful. He moves his hands to hold Louis’ upper arms, urging him to stay close and listen.

“I mean every word,” he repeats, looking straight into Louis’ eyes. “You did amazingly well, I’m so proud of you. I know you don’t feel all that comfortable in front of a crowd yet, it’s not, like, the easiest thing to adjust to, but you looked so calm, and… what’s the word? Unflappable.”

Louis raises a brow at that, but before he can begin to protest, Harry rushes to continue.

“And now that part’s over,” he says, “and we just have the interview to get through, but that’ll be easy, it’s just Nick–”

The man himself bursts dramatically through the door at the front of the room, holding a pose for a moment before dropping his shoulders, smiling, and making his way toward them.

“See? Nothing to worry about,” Harry says to Louis before turning to address Nick when he reaches them, “You’re an idiot.”

“Well, hello to you, too, Harold,” Nick sniffs after a perfunctory bow of his head. He glances toward Louis, his expression softening for a moment, before continuing. “You know, we had to arrange the couches special while setting up just now, had to get your granny’s sofa out ’cause it was the same pattern as,” he waves a hand up and down gesturing at Harry, “all this. Bad optics if you blend into the furniture on telly.”

“Heyyyyyyyy,” Harry groans, looking down at his white suit adorned with a delicate black floral design. He’d known it was the right look for today the moment his stylist had shown it to him, falling in love with the sharp, well-cut suit that was softened by its pattern. The look is a bit romantic, in Harry’s opinion, and he’s nothing if not a romantic.

“Don’t listen to him, love,” Louis says, brushing a miniscule piece of lint off of Harry’s shoulder. “I quite like it, I think you look gorgeous.”

Harry preens a bit at that, momentarily distracted from distracting Louis from his nerves. He spies Nick rolling his eyes and straightens his shoulders, ready to focus on his fiance. _Fiance_. God, what a word.

“You’re only encouraging him, Louis,” Nick states. “And you’re the one who has a lifetime ahead of you trying to coordinate with all that, although I see you’ve skipped sofa chic today and gone for something a bit more demure.”

Louis looks down at his textured gray suit and his expression cycles through surprised, pleased and wary as he tries to work out whether Nick was complimenting him or taking a dig.

“It’s alright, innit?” Louis asks, smoothing his tie. “Palace stylists got to me, told me had to be designer, I’ve got an image to maintain now, apparently. It’s dried van summat or other.”

“It’s ‘dreeze,’ love,” Harry corrects gently, on the slight off chance anyone asks. “Dries van Noten. And it’s perfect, they literally call these designs ‘Prince of Wales,’ like they were made for the occasion.”

He pulls Louis into another hug as if it will convince him how beautiful he truly looks, and apparently that’s quite enough for Nick.

“Alright,” Nick announces, clapping his hands together. “Dubious fashion choices aside, ahem _Harold_ , no surprises today. This is gonna be just like the run through we did yesterday and, since we’re not live, we can even do a couple of takes if you want.”

Louis nods, still looking a bit tightly wound, and Harry wishes that their engagement wasn’t cause for so much stressful fanfare just because of who his family is. Or that he could at least pull Louis into a broom closet and use one of his tried-and-true tricks to help him relax. Nick rolls his eyes at Harry again, apparently their decade-long friendship granting him mind-reading abilities, and Harry shrugs, unabashed.

“Do me a favor,” Louis says suddenly, pulling at the hems of his jacket sleeves to straighten them. “No silent conversations with your eyes, it’s creepy as fuck. And I’m fine, let’s just get on with it.”

Just then, Nick’s producer Fiona comes over, headset on and clipboard firmly in hand, to usher them to the makeshift set in the next room over. Harry wants to hang back for a moment and reassure Louis one last time, but Fiona’s no-nonsense expression gets him quickly in line.

Rattling off last-minute instructions over her shoulder, Fiona leads them to the light blue couch that has been chosen as backdrop for his Gucci and for Louis’ more subtle suit. Harry had actually been the one to suggest it, thinking the color would match Louis’ eyes; Nick’s banter about his granny’s sofas nothing more than a pack of lies. He and Louis sit and Nick settles opposite them in an armchair. They all let people fuss over them; Harry quite used to it, Louis slightly uncomfortable, and Nick basking in it.

There’s a flurry of activity around them: Fiona checks the monitor and then makes Harry move a couple of inches to his right before Lou charges over to use her powder brush on them both. After Louis takes Harry’s left hand to hold in his lap, someone else rushes up and smooths his sleeve _just so_ as Louis looks on, trying to appear unaffected. Someone scurries around rearranging wires to stay out of view. Finally everyone steps away, the lights on and the microphone above them in place.

It’s time.

“Your Royal Highness, Louis Tomlinson,” Nick opens with a flourish of his hand, “congratulations to you both.”

“Thank you,” Louis murmurs, glancing over at Harry, who beams at him before turning back to Nick, mouthing the same words.

“Can we start with the proposal?” Nick continues grandly, in his full interviewer element. “And the actual moment of your engagement, when did it happen? Where did it happen? Was it an instant yes?”

“Well, it happened a few weeks ago,” Harry starts, trying to remember each rapid-fire question. “At our cottage, here on the grounds.”

“He’s going to say ‘was just a normal night in for us, really,’” Louis says, dropping his voice to imitate Harry’s slow drawl, complete with air quotes, before resuming his natural, slightly raspy speaking voice, “and completely disregard that it was not just a normal night and he completely stole my thunder.”

Nick’s eyes sparkle, always up for taking the piss out of Harry, even – or maybe especially – in a professional capacity. “How do you mean?” he asks eagerly, as though he hasn’t heard the story five times by now.

“It was a normal night in,” Harry insists, “but usually I’m doing the cooking, I love to cook, right? Well, Louis had decided he wanted to make dinner–”

“It was my first ever cooking experience,” Louis interrupts, patting Harry’s chest lightly until he sits back, content to let Louis take lead as it means he’s already feeling more at ease.

“And what was the meal, then?” Nick asks, eyes dropping to their hands, anticipating the gestures he’s well familiar with at this point.

“Right, so it was chicken,” Louis starts earnestly, Harry nodding along and mimicking his hand held out, “stuffed with mozzarella cheese, wrapped in parma ham.”

Nick nods, his eyes following their movements as they both circle one hand around their other to mime ‘wrapping.’

“With a side of mash!” Harry finishes triumphantly, equally proud of all of Louis’ accomplishments.

“With a side of mash,” Louis confirms, taking hold of Harry’s hand in his again and continuing to gesture with his other hand. “My first ever cooking experience, Nick, right? And I did a pretty good job of it, nothing burned, no catastrophes.”

“So how did His Royal Highness, ahem, ‘steal your thunder,’ then?” Nick inquires.

“I’ll tell you how, so I was in the kitchen and he’d been setting the table and he came in to bring the dishes out, and I’m just about to bring the last dish, the chicken, out to the dining table–”

Harry grins, completely unrepentant in the face of Louis’ righteous indignation. He knows the end to the story.

“–and then all of a sudden,” Louis continues, “the music changed from his, like, indie hipster playlist to _Wouldn’t It Be Nice_ , you know the Beach Boys song? And I knew he was up to something–”

Nick looks over at Harry, grinning, delighted at Louis’ faux outrage at being upstaged. And maybe, all banter aside, just  because he’s a bit happy for them both.

“And so I walk out, right, and I’m carrying this dish from the first meal I’ve made, and mind you, I’m 31 years old, and I’ve never cooked a meal for anyone, can barely feed myself really, so I’m expecting this dinner to be the talk of the night. And so I walk out and there are candles everywhere–”

“He does love a candle, doesn’t he?” Nick laughs. “How many would you say there were?”

“How many?” Harry asks, stroking his chin with his free hand. “Well, single-wick or multiple-wick? Do multiple ones count as one candle? Let’s go per wick… about 10. Maybe 20? I don't like to go too far, it gets less romantic and more sacrificial if you have too many.”

“Yeah, you can tell he figured it out by trial and error,” Louis says innocently, nodding at Nick rather than his fiance.

Harry sits back again, happy to take the abuse. This is exactly why he’d insisted on Nick as their interviewer; he wanted the people to get to see the Louis he knows and loves, and the stuffy old journalists they usually send to cover the royal beat would never have been able to get him to this point of banter.

“So, you walk out, candles everywhere, Beach Boys singing, and then?” Nick asks.

“And then I look down and I see Harry on one knee, holding a ring up at me,” Louis says simply. “And I just managed to set the dish on the table before he started saying all of these lovely things, really, about me and our relationship, most of which I can barely remember because he took me by such surprise, and he asked me to marry him.”

Louis looks into Harry’s eyes finally at that, smiling softly, before turning back to Nick.

“So you see,” he says, his tone more fond than indignant at this point, “thunder completely stolen.”

Harry laughs, shrugging his shoulders. He looks down at their entwined hands, suddenly a bit overwhelmed by the memory. “It was just so romantic,” he sighs, turning to face Louis as he rubs his thumb over the hand Louis is clasping his own with, “you cooking for me for the first time, you hate cooking but you love me, and I’d been carrying the ring around for weeks and I just couldn’t wait any longer.”

He looks up just as Nick’s hand goes to his chest as if he had a strand of pearls to clutch, and Harry exchanges a smile with Louis.

“I don’t think he was actually too angry,” Harry addresses Nick, “because then he got down on his knee and proposed right back.”

And Nick has heard this story, Harry has been there for each telling, and each time Nick has made an audible “awwww” sound at that. This time is no exception.

“I did, I did,” Louis nods. “I still think we could have saved it for another time, maybe let the dinner been the story for at least the night, but I’ve lost that battle, haven’t I?”

“I’m sorry,” Harry says contritely. “Let it be known that we did sit down to eat eventually, and the meal was delicious.”

“Thank you,” Louis says primly, sitting up a little more straightly.

“And this is how long after you first met?” Nick asks.

“About a year and a half?” Louis estimates, turning to consult Harry. “Maybe longer, almost two?”

“No, just about a year and a half,” Harry answers.

“Which for most people would be quite a whirlwind,” Nick remarks. “Is that how it’s felt to you?”

“I don’t think I would call it a whirlwind, no,” Louis says. “At least in terms of our relationship. There have been layers, of course, as far as how public it’s become because of who Harry is, who his family is. So I don’t know, might seem that way to some.”

“But we had a good five, six months after we met of absolute privacy,” Harry chimes in, “which helped us get to know each other, and gave us a good foundation going forward.”

“And how did you meet?” Nick prompts.

“Well,” Louis starts, laughing a bit. “It’s funny, we almost didn’t.”

“Funny,” Harry scoffs. Pardon him for not thinking that possibility very funny.

“Harry here was due at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital,” Louis continues, as if Harry hadn’t spoken, “for an official visit, you know, official business.”

“Mm, of course,” Nick nods.

“And I volunteer there some weekends, and they asked me to bring one of my classes that day, you know, I teach drama,” Louis shakes his head, correcting himself, “taught drama, so that was the kind of thing I’d done before, bring my kids in to do a song or a skit or what have you for everyone.”

Harry scrunches his nose a little, most likely failing to control the fond expression that tends to take over his face whenever Louis tell this story.

“And if I’m honest, Nick,” Louis continues, “I didn’t really want to go that day, thought it was all going to be for show, and not for the actual kids who are stuck in hospital, right? But my mate Liam who works there told me ‘no, Prince Harry’s different,’ and that he’d visited the kids privately, without cameras and all the fuss, before, right? So I went.”

“And I believe we have seen some photos from that day,” Nick says, “of you two shaking hands in a receiving line. Must be nice to have that moment captured, I’d imagine.”

Louis turns to Harry, smiling softly, as he nods in agreement. They’d talked at length in the days leading up to this interview about how much they wanted to share with the public, what they were comfortable with, and had agreed to keep the detail of how they’d rather unceremoniously bumped into each other in the loo before the events of that day had begun for themselves.

“Yeah, yeah,” Louis says, more to Harry than Nick, and Harry suspects he’s a bit caught up in the memory as well. “Very nice.”

“Was it a bit intimidating, though?” Nick asks.

“Yes,” Harry says, gesturing at Louis, “absolutely, you’ve seen him, look how gorgeous he is.”

And that earns Harry an eye roll from both of them, even though it is the truth.

“Yes, quite,” Nick says drily. “And for you, Louis? Meeting Harry, Prince of Wales? Actually Harry Edward James William, the darling of the royal family, who’s been described as exuding a combination of royal stardust, accessibility, confidence and mischief. Was it intimidating?”

“Not really, no,” Louis answers honestly. “I’d never paid much attention to the royal family, I never realized how much they do for the country, so I knew very little about him, you see.”

“I find that a bit hard to believe,” Nick responds. “His Royal Highness has been a favorite of the press since he was born, essentially. We could paper the palace with all his front pages.”

Harry wishes Nick had phrased that a little differently, as Nick knows full well the amount of negative press coverage Harry’d received in his wilder days after uni before coming out, Nick having been there right along with him. Harry can feel his face cloud and he drops his eyes to his lap, wondering how much time has to pass before his mind doesn’t automatically go to that time of his life whenever anyone mentions him and the word ‘press’ in the same sentence.

“Well, obviously, I knew who he was,” Louis says, squeezing Harry’s hand as though he knows exactly what Harry is thinking. “I always liked the look of him, thought he was a bit cheeky. I do remember when he donated his hair, my sisters were devastated, they loved the long curls–”

“Ah, yes,” Nick interrupts. “His rockstar phase.”

“Can you imagine?” Louis laughs, shaking his head. “And the long hair was gorgeous, who wouldn’t love the boy with the curls? But I remember thinking it was really nice that he donated it, and so publicly too. He set a good example, a couple of my sisters, the twins, they both set out to grow their hair out to donate, although they got a bit too impatient with the whole process. Still, though. Thought that counts.”

Harry runs his free hand through his hair, a bit less curly these days, catching the threat in Lou’s eyes from behind the monitor a second too late. Fuck. Well, that’s what second takes are for.

“I suppose the biggest impression he’d made on me, though, before we met,” Louis continues, “was when he came out.”

Nick nods, his eyes flickering over Harry, his smile smug. He’d encouraged Harry endlessly to go through with it, assuring him it wouldn’t be the end of the monarchy, and never fails to remind him of that.

“I was in my first year teaching then,” Louis explains, “I’d been out for years, already done the whole thing, coming out, and I was quite lucky, never had an issue with my family, only people who were rude about it were people I didn’t care to have in my life anyway. And obviously it had an impact on me, when Harry went through it, but it really had more of an impact on my students. I could see in one of them in particular how much it meant to have someone like Harry, see themselves in him. It meant quite a lot.”

Harry smiles tightly, forever unsure of what to say in these moments despite all of the media training. He understands the impact that Louis is talking about perfectly, but he’s rather put out that it’s still necessary in this day and age.

“So you did know a bit about him,” Nick states.

“Yes, a bit, I did,” Louis acknowledges, “but for the most part, what I know about Harry, I got to learn from Harry.”

“And I imagine that must have been refreshing for you,” Nick comments to Harry. “With the way you’ve grown up with a lot of people knowing everything about you–”

“Or thinking they know everything about you,” Harry corrects. “And yes, it was refreshing to, sort of, get to know someone from scratch. And Louis, while, you know, he’s always been respectful of the monarchy and all that it entails, he’s also never treated me any differently, which is very important to me. I try to live a more ordinary, relatively normal life, that’s how my mother raised me, I don’t want to be completely cut off from reality. I do my own shopping, and I would even if I were king.”

Harry pauses to take a breath, having noticed how he’s speaking much faster than usual as this is a sensitive topic for him. He continues carefully, “I was beautifully surprised when I met him, and I continue to be a year and a half on.”

“And so we know how you met in Manchester, where you, Louis, have been living and working,” Nick says. “And you, sir, are based out of London and your role necessitates that you travel quite often. Has that been difficult for you?”

“We just made a decision very early on,” Louis says simply, “to make our relationship a priority. Even from that first day we met, I think we both knew this was something different. We went out for dinner that night and talked for hours, about our families and childhoods and what we want to do with our lives, we’re both quite passionate about change and we connected on that level. So just from that first date–”

Louis pulls on one of Harry’s fingers to count off their dates as he continues; Harry grinning at his lap.

“–to our second date, we got coffee the next day before he had to leave back to London–”

“We both knew,” Harry says, still grinning as Louis manipulates his hand to tick off the second date on his finger. “It was like, ‘right, let’s get the diaries out,’ we knew we had to figure out when we’d be able to see each other. I was headed off the next week to Ghana for a kind of unofficial visit to hospitals we help fund there, sometimes they let me go without cameras, get my hands dirty so to speak, and I just invited Louis to come along.”

Louis counts off Harry’s third finger and continues, “And that was our third date. It sounds mad, but we had a whole week together, just the two of us, and he was showing me a side of himself that not many people get to see.”

“And so we were committed to each other very early on,” Harry picks up. “And we had a rule, no longer than two weeks apart, and I’m afraid the burden fell more to Louis, but I worked with my staff here to try and make my schedule as flexible as I could so we could see each other.”

“And it’s easy to stay in contact these days,” Louis says. “We made it work. FaceTime. Texting. Although I think he only texted every day so he could say ‘I wrote you every day for a year’ on our first anniversary.”

“Heyyyy,” Harry protests as Louis rolls his eyes. “You said you liked _The Notebook_.”

“Sure, the first three or four times, love,” Louis says easily. “After that, ’s kinda like, okay, you’re a bird, I’m a bird, they’re both birds, we get it.”

“I mean, I do love a rom com,” Harry says to Nick, “and it’s nice to watch something you already know, innit? Life is stressful enough, it’s nice to watch something and know what’s going to happen. It’s like ‘I’m safe here.’ Lou’s the opposite, I think.”

“I am yeah,” Louis shrugs, “Give me _Forensic Files_ or a good murder documentary anyday.”

“Anyway, setting our Netflix history aside for a moment,” Harry says, shaking his head to clear it, attempting to get back on course, “we kind of reversed the whole dating process, by spending a lot of time at home when we were together instead of going out.”

“Right, so cozy nights in, cooking dinner,” Louis says to Nick.

“Me cooking dinner while Louis would try to distract me,” Harry interrupts, “at our little cottage rather than going out for dinner and being seen in public. It made us a hell of a lot closer, it was an opportunity to get to know each other without people watching, taking photos on their phones, which comes with the job, the role–”

“But we were able to really get to know each other, have friends over, go to his family for tea, a lot of time just to ourselves.”

“And in the case of your relationship,” Nick begins, “unlike for most people, there is this whole layer of what it means to get involved with someone from the royal family. How much of a sense did you have of the enormity of it, Louis, how it would change your life? Were you prepared?”

“Not having paid much attention,” Louis replies, a bit chagrined, “I was pretty naive. Looking back, I really didn’t know what we were in for.”

“I did try,” Harry pipes up, “to explain, to warn him, but we were both a bit taken aback at the level of interest, of scrutiny.”

“And much of that scrutiny,” Nick says seriously, “has been centered around your sexuality.”

Harry purses his lips and nods, trying to keep his composure, as his mind goes to the lengthy meetings about protocol he’d had to attend, losing his patience with the faux deferential, stuffy old men at the palace suddenly baffled as to how to proceed now that a gay prince was no longer a hypothetical, but a reality. ( _“You simply cannot have a Duke and Duke of Sussex, sir.” “With all due respect, why the fuck not?”_ ) He snaps back to attention after Louis pinches his thigh, having sensed where Harry’s mind was.

“To the point that you, sir,” Nick continues, “released a statement criticizing the media for their coverage. When you realized, Louis, that the coverage had taken that particular, and negative, angle, how did you react?”

“It’s disheartening, certainly,” Louis says candidly, holding his head high and meeting Nick’s gaze. “I’d’ve liked to think we were a bit further along in terms of these things not mattering anymore, but it is what it is. You can’t let that kind of thing stop you from living your life.”

Harry blinks away the few tears that have gathered in his eyes and sits forward. “It’s only brought us closer together,” he repeats, gripping Louis’ hand tightly in his own. “We decided that we needed to just tune all the attention out, and focus on us and our relationship.”

“Right,” Louis says. “I don’t read any of the stories about us, good or bad, because it really has nowt to do with us at the end of the day. My mum, my sisters, they have a harder time with that, but that’s my rule.”

“Do you see yourselves as representing something new to the royal family?” Nick moves on, “Not just in terms of being a same-sex couple, but you, Prince Harry, are the first royal, male anyway, to forego a military career altogether and focus entirely on philanthropy.” He gestures at the 28 tattooed on Louis’ left hand. “You’re both quite modern-minded, for example, you’ll be the first royal family member to have a tattoo, Louis–”

“Visible tattoo,” Harry smirks, as Louis elbows him lightly in the ribs. “I don’t think so, actually, no, I just see Louis as a new member of the family, of the team–”

“Dream team!” Louis exclaims.

“Dream team,” Harry agrees happily. “But no, we’re not setting out to represent anything new in particular, although we’re happy to support the Queen and continue in our work. There is quite a lot of work to be done. But even though we acknowledge the impact we are able to have on people, really we just see ourselves as Harry and Louis.”

“And Louis,” Nick says, “you mentioned your volunteer work in Manchester already. How do you feel about this new role? You’re going to have a big platform, a big voice, what do you want to do with it?”

“Sing,” Harry quips, earning another elbow to the ribs.

“No, no, can you imagine?” Louis chuckles. “Not a singer. You know, Nick, this role comes with great power and with that comes great responsibility.”

Nick nods, his serious expression growing confused as both Harry’s and Louis’ lips twitch. He breaks character, so to speak, and exclaims, “What? What are the two of you on about?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Louis laughs, waving his hand at Nick, “I don’t take it lightly, I don’t mean to make a joke of it, but Harold here–”

“Not my name,” Harry interrupts, waggling his finger, giddy and just _happy_.

“Harry, Prince of Wales, here bet me a fiver you wouldn’t spot that as a Spider-Man reference,” Louis explains to a huffy Nick, who’s shifting in his armchair and looking around for someone to make knowing eye contact with. Fiona takes pity on him and rolls her eyes exaggeratedly.

“Brilliant,” Nick deadpans. “Dead clever of you, really.”

Louis moves to adjust his fringe, a nervous tick Harry’s surprised hasn’t already come out today, before realizing his hair is styled back. He smooths his hand over his forehead, smiling apologetically. “I’m sorry, mate,” he whispers, leaning forward. “They can cut it out, yeah?”

“But they won’t,” Nick grumbles. “Harry probably already paid them off. Just keep going, tell me about the platform and your role and whatnot.”

Enormously pleased with himself, Harry sits back, beaming. It’s always Nick who manages to take the piss out of him, and he’s going to be grumpy about this for months, but it was totally worth it.

“Well, you know, Nick,” Louis starts, clearly trying not to smile too widely, “I have a lot to learn about the role and what it involves and about the Commonwealth, really, I’m seeing it with brand-new eyes now. So that’s the first thing, learning about what we can do with this role, and what needs to be done.”

“And there is a lot to do,” Harry acknowledges again. Somehow his efforts never feel quite enough.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Louis says animatedly. “I’m excited to focus energy on causes that are close to my heart, ones I’ve already tried to support in my own small ways, like the children’s hospital in Manchester and the Eden Dora Trust. And Harry’s worked very hard to help break the stigma surrounding mental health issues, which is incredibly important, and he’s a patron of several LGBT organizations, like Switchboard for one, and he particularly enjoys working with children, which I do as well having been a teacher and all, so I’m looking forward to joining him in supporting those causes as well.”

Harry beams with pride again, this time at Louis.

“It’s an immense change,” Nick comments, resolutely not looking at Harry, “giving up your current job, moving to London, although I suppose you are getting a husband out of it–”

A thrill goes through Harry at that and he shivers a little, drawing a pause from Nick and a small laugh from Louis.

“I don’t really see it as giving anything up, though,” Louis says, “if that’s what you’re asking. This just feels like a new chapter, for both of us really, and we’re very excited.”

“But do you, Prince Harry,” Nick reluctantly addresses Harry directly, “feel a sense of responsibility for what you’re asking of Louis?”

Harry furrows his brow, suddenly serious.

“Of course,” he answers gravely. “That sense of responsibility has been there since a couple of months in, realizing, you know, I’m in love with this man and I hope he loves me. Even really going back to day one because, as you mentioned, there were cameras capturing us when we first met. And I had to sit down with Louis and have frank conversations about what he was letting himself in for, it’s a big deal and it’s not easy for anyone.”

He pauses, wondering if his father will watch this when it airs.

“Not everyone can handle it,” he says carefully, trying to keep his tone light. “And we’ve had those difficult discussions, because I choose him–”

“And I choose him,” Louis breaks in. “It’s mutual, we’ve discussed it. We are a team and whatever we need to tackle, we’ll do it together.”

“And Louis is a very capable person,” Harry says confidently. “I believe he’s capable of anything.”   

Another reason Harry had insisted on Nick as their interviewer for today is that he is actually quite good at his job and can sense when a shift in topic is needed.

“Children?” Nick asks suddenly.

Well, even if he’s a tad graceless about it now and then.

Harry feels his eyebrows shoot up as he sits a bit forward, and sees Louis having an identical reaction out of the corner of his eye. “Not currently, no,” he quips, eliciting a laugh from Louis. “One step at a time, I think, but obviously in the future, yes, we’ll start a family.”

“We’ve talked about surrogacy,” Louis adds. “It’s something we’re both interested in. Start thinking of names you’ll want to suggest, Nicholas, this family requires rather a lot of them for each child, and it will happen in due time.”

“You’ve met each other’s families, I’d imagine,” Nick comments, trying to hide a small smile.

“Yes!” Harry exclaims, thinking of the vibrant family that has welcomed him with open arms.

“My family loves Harry,” Louis informs him. “Loves him. Me, I barely get a hello anymore, it’s all Harry this, Harry that. If I show up at home by meself, the first question is ‘Where’s Hazza?’” He shakes his head but smiles fondly. “Especially with the babies.”

Harry turns to shake his head at Louis.

“Oh, right, right,” Louis says, “they won’t be very happy with me for that, they’re already nine years old. They’re quite particular that they’re not babies anymore, thank you very much.”

“You do have a rather large family, is that right, Louis?” Nick asks.

“He’s the oldest of seven,” Harry says happily. “Seven! Two sets of twins, isn’t that amazing? I’ve always thought having a big family must be so much fun, I’d’ve loved to have more siblings myself, and they’ve been so welcoming. Louis’ mum is an amazing woman, she’s done such a good job with all of them.”

“And what about your mother, Louis,” Nick says thoughtfully, “has she been worried at all about the scale of what you’re getting into? The prince’s considerable charms aside, I imagine your family must have been concerned, at least at the beginning.”

“You know, I think she was a bit concerned for me at the start,” Louis concedes. “But she worries no matter what we do, that’s just her job, and she’s quite good at it. And yes, the scale of this is a bit different from other things that have caused her worry, but she’s also never seen me so happy, which is what matters most.”

Harry pinches his lip with his fingers, trying to stop from smiling quite so obnoxiously.

“She and I had a heart to heart early on, after Harry first tried to explain what we might expect after people learned about our relationship, and you know, I was a bit worried for meself there for a minute.”

At that, Harry’s smiles fades a bit and Louis pats Harry’s hand reassuringly, knowing he’d need it, and Harry nods for him to continue.

“And we had a glass of wine,” Louis continues, “and we talked about Harry and how he could really be the one and how that came with a lot of extra… stuff, I don’t know, not baggage but there is a lot that comes with him and his position. And at the end of this long conversation, she looks me right in the eye and she says, ‘You’ve got to f–’”

He cuts himself off as Harry squeezes his knee and smiles over at him gratefully.

“She said, ‘You’ve got to do it, it’s as simple as that,’” Louis says. “She raised the lot of us with this idea that, you know, you don’t sit around feeling sorry for yourself, you get on with it. And I don’t think she’d’ve let me get away with letting something like what people might say stand in the way of being happy.”

Harry smiles broadly at Nick, thinking it’s been rather too long since he’s sent Jay flowers. Amazing woman.

“Speaking of mothers,” Nick segues, “have you met the Queen?”

“Yes,” Louis says softly. “Yes, a few times now. Such an honor. That first meeting with her, now that’s the one that was intimidating.”

“Really?” Nick cracks a grin at that.

“Really,” Louis confirms. “Now, as I said, I’d never followed the royal family too closely, but my mum has always admired her majesty, Queen Anne, and her father before her, for the way they’ve modernized, like changing the rules of succession so it’s by age and not gender, she was very impressed by that.”

Harry looks from Louis to Nick, smiling, quite content to be known as “the spare” and proud of his mum as always. She’s always been a wonderful mother, but she might just be an even better monarch.

“And so, I have to admit, I was nervous to meet her, not only as my boyfriend’s mum, you know, want to make a good impression, but keeping in mind she’s also the monarch and Harry holds her in such high regard in her role and… yeah, all this is to say, it was quite intimidating.”

“And what was it like, that first meeting?”

“It went so well,” Harry declares. “We had tea and Louis wanted to prepare it, as he’s quite particular, and she liked him as soon as he put the milk in first.”

“She is lovely,” Louis adds. “And it was incredible, meeting her and getting to know her through Harry’s eyes, not just the honor and respect he has for her as the monarch, or his boss as he likes to joke, but the love he has for her as his mother, they’re very close. She’s an incredible woman.”

“And the corgis took to you straightaway,” Harry remarks.

“That’s true,” Louis chuckles.

“I’ve spent the last 29 years being barked at,” Harry deadpans, jerking his hand toward Louis, “this one walks in, absolutely nothing.”

Louis outright giggles at that, saying, “They were just lying on my feet during tea.”

“Wagging tails,” Harry says, shaking his head.

“It’s because they don’t understand flirting,” Louis tells him, “you can’t charm them the way you do everyone else.”

“Horses don’t care for him either,” Nick says helpfully. “Have you seen him try to play polo?”

“Total disaster,” Louis agrees. “That’s true for any sport, though, really, you’ve watched him try to play in charity footie matches. He falls down when he’s along the sidelines.”

“Alright, alright,” Harry grumbles. It’s the truth, but still.

“Sorry, love, sorry,” Louis says, nudging Harry with his knee to get a smile out of him.

“It’s the truth, though, innit?” Nick says as an aside to Louis.

“You know what I like in a journalist,” Harry states to the room at large, “is _professionalism_.”

“Calm down, Harold,” Nick says airily. “You know they’ll edit out soon as I mention horses, don’t get in a strop about it.”

Harry pouts and says to Louis, “I understand the game so well, the rules and strategy and everything, I don’t know why I’m not better at it.”

“It’s okay, baby,” Louis shushes him. “We can practice, there has to be a royal pitch somewhere we use, yeah?”

“Lean apart a bit, so they can edit that out more smoothly,” Nick instructs them, pausing before he tacks on, “baby.”

Harry very nearly makes a rude, rather un-royal gesture at him, but remembers in time that the cameras are still rolling and he’d basically be handing Nick blackmail material gift-wrapped. He and Louis straighten up and look back at Nick attentively.

“That has to be a good sign,” Nick resumes. “The corgis taking to you, Louis.”

Blinking away his momentary confusion, Louis nods in agreement.

“And what about the rest of your family,” Nick addresses Harry, “how was it introducing Louis to your sister?”

“Oh, I knew they’d get along like a house on fire,” Harry says, “and they did. They have a very similar sense of humor, Louis and Gemma. And Michal’s been very welcoming, very happy to talk with Louis about what to expect.”

“He has, they’ve both been great,” Louis confirms. “Very welcoming, they’ve made me feel not just part of the institution but also part of the family. And the children are lovely, I just adore them.”

“Oh, they love Louis,” Harry gushes. “George and Charlotte are always thrilled to see him, he’s so good with them, playing in the garden, always up for reading to them and doing all the funny voices. They already say Uncle Louis sometimes, they’re very excited for the wedding.”

“I think Her Royal Highness is excited as well,” Nick says slyly. “She said something the other day about how maybe your marriage would mean you wouldn’t be stopping by and eating all of their food anymore.”

Harry sputters for a moment, wondering whether he should actually feel guilty about stealing food from his pregnant sister’s fridge, before remembering she elects to have her shopping done for her. She’s fine.  

“He eats me out of house and home every time he visits,” Louis laughs, turning to Harry, “but you see, the difference, Harry, is I don’t mind sharing.”

Harry smiles from ear to ear, exchanging a look with Nick, neither of them sure how Harry had found someone quite so perfect for him. Nick only lets it last a moment before moving on to their final topic, the Northerner in him always squirmy and uncomfortable discussing emotions, even with their eyes apparently.

“And your rings,” he transitions smoothly. “We’ve all grown accustomed to seeing you wear several rings on each hand, Your Royal Highness, but today you only have one.”

“Yes,” Harry murmurs, the vivid memory of Louis kneeling on the floor with him when he proposed first flooding back.

“It’s temporary, really,” Louis rushes to explain. “Harry caught me by surprise when he proposed, so I wasn’t prepared. And so when I proposed back, I moved this ring I’d given him a few months ago, I saw the rose design and couldn’t resist, it was just so Harry that I didn’t even wait for an occasion, anyway, so I moved that ring to his ring finger, and he slipped off all the others.”

Louis sits back, smiling proudly, letting Harry untangle his left hand from Louis’ to show off the ring properly.

“Lovely,” Nick comments. “And your ring, Louis?”

“I went with something a bit more classic for Louis,” Harry says, watching Louis hold up his left hand. “His style is pretty understated so I knew he’d want something simple, just a silver band.” Harry glances over at Louis to confirm that it’s alright to continue, the next detail a bit much to share, but Louis nods for him to go ahead. “What makes it unique,” Harry continues, “is the inscription.”

“Ah,” Nick says, sitting forward slightly, “and what does the inscription say, if you don’t mind sharing?”

“Well,” Harry chuckles, “I was pretty confident of Louis’ answer, even if my knees were shaking a bit that night before I knelt down, so I had them engrave what Louis says every time I ask him to go on an adventure with me.”

Nick swivels his head to Louis as Harry remembers the first time he heard those words from him after a long and especially rambling (even for Harry) invitation to come along on the Ghana trip all those months ago.

_“If you’re asking me, Curly, to go on an adventure with you halfway ’round the world where we’ll tour hospitals and visit patients and learn about what we can do better for them and I can see you first thing in the morning with your hair all wild before you’ve even had your tea, then my answer is–”_

“Yes,” Louis says plainly. “Yes, of course. Always.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! I love to hear what people thought, let me know with kudos and comments <3  
> Tumblr fic post [ here](https://disgruntledkittenface.tumblr.com/post/169287047172/caught-up-in-your-love-affair-by)!


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